Henry Winkler Reflects on His 78th Birthday, Early Fame and His New Memoir (Exclusive)

Henry Winkler has often been called the nicest guy in Hollywood and one of the friendliest actors in the business — and with his new memoir hitting shelves one day after his 78th birthday, the celebrated entertainer is looking back at his legacy and why he’s earned such a reputation for kindness.

Winkler sat down with ET’s Rachel Smith in New York City on Monday, where he reflected on how he’s doing in his life and his career, and his outlook for the years to come.

“Well, aside from my knees, I feel great! I really do,” Winkler shared. “I’m here, I’m doing it, I’m still being a part of the world. It is just amazing, truly, because there are so many people who are my age who feel old, who feel forgotten.”

When it comes to his longevity and vitality, Winkler explained. “I have good genes! [And] just the will to be young.”

“You know, people say, ‘Are you gonna retire?’ I don’t even know how to say the word,” Winkler shared. “Working is in my DNA.”

In fact, for Winkler, working in his profession — both as an actor and an author — staying active professionally has helped to keep his mind sharp.

“Being an actor or writing, it so keeps your mind agile,” Winkler explained. “Acting is like putting a jigsaw puzzle together in order to create a human life, and writing a memoir, you have got to really remember not only what you think you remember but the events around it.”

In his new book, Being Henry: The Fonz… and Beyond, Winkler opens up about his early days in showbusiness, and his experiences growing up in front of the camera and developing his craft.

Winkler learned and honed his skills as a member of the MFA program at the Yale School of Drama, and worked with the Yale Repertory Theater. He came out to Los Angeles after graduating, and got a small role on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, before becoming a pop culture phenomenon in his role as Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzarelli on Happy Days.

“Everything that I learned at Yale, I applied to playing the Fonz,” shared Winkler, adding that the sentiment also goes for every role he’s ever been a part of since. “No matter what it was, I used every bit of my training. Acting is acting is acting is acting.”

Along the way, he made a lot of fans and friends among his fellow actors for his warmth and friendliness. And for Winkler, he explained how a lot of that stemmed from his own experiences not receiving that same kind of embrace on set.

“When [I was on] The Mary Tyler Moore Show, they called lunch and then everybody scattered. They all had things to do, and I was not whole enough at that time to just go about my business and say, ‘Where’s the commissary?’ and go to lunch,” Winkler shared with ET. “I thought, ‘Oh my god, I’m here alone, I don’t know what to do, I’m lost.’ I really was consumed. And I knew I would never let anybody feel that if I was in the vicinity.”

Now, several decades later, Winkler explains that what others see as friendliness is really just a pervasive joie de vivre.

“You know, people always say I’m ‘the nicest guy in Hollywood.’ I’m not nice so much as I am joyous,” Winkler said. “I am happy to be on this Earth, to meet the people I meet, to meet the people in this building, coming to this studio.”

And that joyous love for existence is something that keeps him motivated and happy. And gives him a full albeit somewhat humble bucket list, so to speak — a list that includes, “fly fish as much as i can; come back to Broadway; [and] keep acting until I can no longer.”

Ultimately, Winkler — who shares three children with his wife of 45 years, Stacey — explained that his hopes for his legacy don’t revolve around the characters he’s played. Instead, when asked how he hopes to be remembered in the decades to come, Winkler said, “[as] a really good father, [and] a really good grandfather.”

Being Henry: The Fonz… and Beyond comes out Oct. 31.

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